


Seppuku in the library

by bokutosthighss



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gay Panic, IM STRESSED, OC has shitty parents, Oikawa Tooru is a Little Shit, Oikawa Tooru is a Tease, Oikawa gets joy out of being annoying, Volleyball, and aniexty, cursing, does ketchup belong on Mac and cheese?, iwa is a sweet man, mom friend, oc is dumb, original female character is stressed, possible fxf, possible nsfw idk man, she's on her e-girl shit, shittykawa
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:33:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27255001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bokutosthighss/pseuds/bokutosthighss
Summary: Hoshikomi Katsumi is the captain of Aoba Johsai's female volleyball team, and meets Oikawa, uh yeah something like that. It all started with seppuku in the library.
Relationships: Oikawa Tooru & Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 9





	1. Introducing the characters

**Author's Note:**

> Ignore the very cringe descriptions of the characters, I wrote them very quickly with no think.

#1 Captain/Middle Blocker/Jack of all trades: Hoshikomi Katsumi chaotic good but seems like lawful good 5’8, 3rd year, class 3-5, doesn't really talk to people outside her team, perfectionist, very much anxiety

#3 Setter: Tatsuzaki Akira Quiet, observant, lesbian, 3rd year, class 3-4, gay panic (why do we keep locking eyes), neutral good 5’5, lowkey mom, listens to girl in red

#2 Wing Spiker/Ace/Vice Captain: Nitai Noa (Nino) Katsumi’s BFF, bruh girl, 3rd year, class 3-2, looks very serious, heterochromatic eyes hazel and blue, lowkey a lover but looks angi, weird tension with the setter?? Faces discrimination (bc she’s Ainu), lawful neutral 6’1

#8 Wing Spiker: Akizawa Yumi cutesy girl, baby energy must protecc, 1st year, class 1-2, just excited to be there, glasses, definitely a BTS stan, true neutral 5’11

#5 Middle Blocker: Kitagawa Mayoi Bruh girl 2.0, feral energy, kinda dumb but love her, 2nd year, class 2-1, lots of ear piercings, chaotic good 5’10

#4 Libero: Hanamaki Takami shy girl vibes, nervous energy, hair is usually in a bun, freckles, 2nd year, class 2-3, lawful good 5’4

#7 Outside hitter: Sabakura Misaki (Mimi) Kinda mean girl vibe, wants to be the starting setter, drama, swaps out with the libero, 1st year, class 1-2, chaotic evil 5’7

#9 Pinch server/defense: Kimura Rion (kiri_online) Smart but doesn’t apply herself, neutral evil, 1st year, class 1-5, lowkey tik tok famous doesn’t tell people 5’5

#6 Defensive specialist/Opposite hitter: Akatani May E-girl vibes, very outgoing, can talk to anyone, half-japanese half-black mom’s black and dad’s japanese, chaotic good, BFF’s with Mayoi, plays guitar, 2nd year, class 2-2 5’6

UH MY VERY TALENTED FRIEND DREW THIS OF THE GIRLS PLS FOLLOW HER IG @ just.villiany


	2. Sad endings and new beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> heyyyy mentions of suicide just saying, it's very vague, if that's triggering you can skip past the line marker. Katsumi's family are asshats btw. introducing some of the other girls and some Oikawa crumbs

At the end of her second year, Katsumi Hoshikomi found herself sitting in a cemetery, hands clutching a black umbrella, knuckles turning white. She sat in a haze, feeling as if she were drowning.

She was adorned in all black, black hair pulled into a french braid that stopped at her mid-back; even at a funeral she was tasked with being perfect. Her blue eyes were void of emotion as she watched people speak, mind foggy, not being able to focus on what they were actually saying, fighting to not let her mask crack. Throughout her childhood her father told her, “Emotion is weakness, and weaknesses will be used against you.” This became a mantra she repeated in her head.

It was the first time in months that her family had been together, and it would be the last. She glanced at the picture they chose of her older brother, Katsushi. He looked happy. He was always such a great liar. If he was truly happy, he wouldn’t have done this, he wouldn’t have chosen to leave, leave her behind.

The Hoshikomi’s were a wealthy family, and they had to uphold their status. Katsushi committing suicide was a blow to that status; at least, that’s what her father thought. Both of her parents sat beside her, adorned in black. Her father tapped his foot absentmindedly, checking his Rolex frequently, as if his son's own funeral was taking up his precious time. Her mother, she noticed, seemed more hollow, more affected, in comparison to her father’s apathetic aura around him. Katsumi’s mother’s face held a somber expression, hands tightly wound around one of her expensive handkerchiefs.

“Katsumi,” echoed her father’s cold voice, pulling her out of her sea of thoughts. Her eyes snapped onto his figure. “We’re leaving.”

She got up, standing over her brother's open grave, while the rest of her family had walked ahead leaving her behind. She reached for a single white lily, letting it fall to rest atop his casket. “You don’t have to lie anymore, Ushi,” she whispered, wiping a single tear from her cheek. She hated showing her sadness, she hated looking weak. Alone she watched the gravediggers finish filling the grave with dirt, burying her sadness with her brother.

The girl approached the sleek BMW, sliding into the back seat. The ride back to the house was silent— Katsumi could tell her parent’s felt a great deal of shame, though they would never outwardly admit that. At the gate of their home, her father broke the silence, informing his daughter that both of her parents would be leaving again for business for an extensive period of time. The girl curtly nodded: being left was no new feeling.

She waited until she was alone in her room to break down. Letting out the pain of losing her brother, her only true family. She would never allow herself to break in front of her parents due to her father’s harsh words from her childhood.

Katsumi finished out her second year at Aoba Johsai in a blur. Burying herself in her school work and volleyball. Her life over the break had become a routine: wake up, eat, train, study, sleep, and repeat. Her parents would come and go, leaving her alone the majority of the time. The house felt empty, like her.

* * *

Current

Katsumi put on her uniform, tucking in her light blue button up into the brown plaid skirt, tying her tie before pulling on a cream sweater, and tugging on her black thigh high socks. She ran down the stairs into the kitchen, grabbed an apple, and slipped on her black high tops before snatching her backpack and began her walk to school.

She was nervous for this upcoming season, not because she doubted her skill, but because she was asked near the end of the previous school year to be captain. She accepted without hesitation, but that was before the incident.

Katsumi stopped in front of Nitai Noa’s. Nino, as coined by the other girls on their team, tookbites of her apple as she waited for her best friend. The two girls had been playing volleyball together for six years. Nino broke down Katsumi’s cold exterior and quickly became the sister she never had.

The tall girl threw open the door to her house, glancing around before her heterochromatic eyes fell on the captain. Nino pulled up her short wet hair into a small top knot, exposing her undercut more.

“Did you eat breakfast?” quizzed Nino, eyes narrowing in on the long-haired girl before her.

“Good morning to you too, Nino. Why, yes, I slept great. Thanks for asking,” replied Katsumi sarcastically. Nino crossed her arms at the smaller girl, a sign that she was being serious. She used being 6’1” to her advantage when it came to intimidation, which often failed to work on the straight-faced girl.

Katsumi waved her half-eaten apple in front of her face, and Nino hissed at the girl's choice of breakfast. “It was fast and I was in a hurry,” Katsumi mumbled sheepishly. While Nino was a caring person to her friends, when she went into mom mode you did not want to question her, which was one of the reasons Katsumi chose her to be her vice captain.

“Are you this incapable, Katsu?” groaned the taller girl. “We have morning and afternoon practice today, you need to eat more.” Nino flung her bag around to her front, zipping it open, pulling out a protein shake and shoving it into the wide-eyed girl's hand. “Drink.”

“Thanks mom,” Katsumi retorted, uncapping the drink and taking a sip. “This is good, surprisingly. I’ll give you the bottle back after practice.”

Nino shrugged, not too worried about it. She had made the drink with Katsumi in mind, knowing the girl had poor eating habits.

The pair walked to school discussing their plans for the upcoming season and their classes. Nino was in class 3-2 while Katsumi was in 3-5, so the two wouldn’t have any shared classes. They were meeting up with Tatsuzaki Akira, the other third year in their crew. Nino was grateful to have two smarter friends, it made studying much easier for her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arriving at the girls' gym, Katsumi saw Akira, the team's setter. She was standing outside waiting for the other third years to arrive, her wavy brown hair was already pulled into a high bun. She was entertaining two of the second years, Kitagawa Mayoi and Akatani May, who were excitedly chatting Akira’s ear off.

Mayoi and May, also known as the chaos duo, were a handful at times. Katsumi chuckled at Akira’s pained expression.

“Mayoi! May!” Katsumi waved at the two girls, both excitedly bounded over to their captain. Nino caught Akira’s gaze as she watched the two second years run towards the other pair, and held it, giving the setter a small smile and wave. Akira’s gaze was fixed on Nino until she realized that Katsumi had approached her, second years in tow. She snapped away from Nino before greeting Katsumi.

Katsumi looked at the two second years closer, “Mayoi… did you shave your eyebrows?”

“Haha yea!” she laughed. Akira gave the girl a concerned look, “Uh explain?” Mayoi just shrugged and explained that at 3 a.m. one night, she just decided to shave half her eyebrows off, “because YOLO.”

May hollered at her friend's response, screeching about her eyebrows. Katsumi turned to her. “You’re not off the hook either, you dyed part of your hair purple,” she commented. May nodded eagerly.

“She’s on her e-girl shit,” cackled Mayoi. Nino facepalmed at the second years.

The girls grouped up by the gym doors, chatting about their breaks. May had spent her break in America visiting her mom’s side of her family, causing her Japanese to be broken.

“You leave for break and come back speaking a whole new language,” Mayoi chortled at her best friend. May balled up her fist, hitting Mayoi in the bicep, cursing at her in a mix of English and Japanese.

The Hanamaki siblings approached the group with Mattsukawa Issei in tow. Takami walked up with her older brother Takahiro, he was protective of his little sister due to her shy nature and wanted to be sure she got the club in one piece.

Akira glared at the dark hair boy, ‘He looks stupid and lazy,’ she thought to herself. Mattsun was oblivious to the hard glare; he took it as a sign of interest. He wasn’t aware that she didn’t bat for his team.

“Hey Hoshikomi, take care of my little sister this year, will you?” asked Takahiro.

“You don’t even have to ask, Takahiro,” she assured him, glancing at the blushing Takami. Her brother had effectively embarrassed her in front of her team. “My team is like my family. We take care of each other, even when we fight.”

Takahiro nodded curtly, approving of her answer, and turned to his little sister. “Let me know if you need anything, okay? I gotta go to the boys' morning practice, they’re all arriving,” he said, shoving his thumb in the direction of the boys gym. She nodded, giving her brother a chaste hug. Takahiro turned around to join Mattsun again. As they turned to leave, Mattsun winked at the setter, whose face scrunched up in disgust.

Katsumi watched the boys leave to join up with their team, noticing two others heading towards them, one looked familiar. She eyed the darker haired boy, realizing that he was in her class, Iwaizumi Hajime. The girl didn’t really care to talk to anyone besides the girls in her club, causing her to not have any friends outside of volleyball. Her eyes traveled to the boy with him, their captain, she had heard rumors of him. He was rumored to be a player, having most girls in their school swooning over him. “He’s alright looking, I guess,” she thought to herself before turning back to her own team.

Oikawa was rambling on to Iwaizumi about nothing in particular, Iwaizumi angrily rubbed his temples, thoroughly annoyed at his friend, before firing off, “SHUT UP SHITTYKAWA IT’S TOO EARLY FOR THIS!”

Oikawa feigned hurt, “*gasp* Iwa-chan you don’t have to be so mean to me!” whined the brunette.

Yahaba watched his older teammates in amusement, while they were annoying sometimes, it was free entertainment.

Mattsun turned to Makki as the other third years approached, “Who was that one girl?” he asked, referring to the setter.

“She’s not interested in you.” he stated plainly.

“Why not? I’m a nice enough guy,” he scoffed.

“She plays for the other team, dumbass.” Mattsun’s eyes widened, his mouth forming an “o”.

“Who plays for the other team?” said Oikawa, ears perking up at the gossip.

“Don’t worry about it, Oikawa,” Makki said, at the same time Mattsun replied, “Someone on the girls volleyball team.” Makki rolled his eyes at his friend.

Oikawa glanced over at the girls team as they entered their gym, wondering which girl Mattsun was talking about. He caught the cold glance of their black haired captain as she shut the door to the gym. Iwa watched his friend with an amused expression.

_“Who is she?” thought Oikawa._


	3. Flashbacks and school days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uh here's this I guess, I haven't reread it in a while so sorry if there's any mistakes! some more Oikawa juice tho oh also there's descriptions of a panic attack FYI

The team dispersed throughout the gym setting up the equipment for their morning practice. Their coach had informed the girls that there were a handful of talented first years that were coming onto the team.

“When’s the fresh meat coming?” asked Mayoi while putting up the posts with Katsumi and Nino.

“Pfft you can’t call them that,” laughed Katsumi. “I’m assuming they’re coming to the practice after school, I doubt they would know about morning practice.”

Mayoi processed the information, slowly, before nodding, “That makes sense.” Nino shook her head at the airheaded second year.

The group got into the swing of their practice, firing off drills quickly. After doing passing, blocking, and spiking drills it was time for the one Katsumi was dreaded the most, serving.

She hadn’t practiced her serve since the incident, because it was his serve. The ravenette had been feared for her powerful jump serve during her second year, the jump serve that her brother taught her. Her coach had tried to make her do it a few months after his funeral, and she broke all over again. 

MEMORY:

Katsumi was going into her first year, she was going to attend the school her brother had previously gone to, the younger girl looked up to her brother immensely, idolizing him. 

Katsushi Hoshikomi had graduated from Aoba Johsai the previous year and immediately went to play volleyball professionally. He was a prodigy, and his younger sister was following in his footsteps. 

After playing in the league for a year he was already getting scouted by Japan’s men's team, an offer to which he accepted, more like his father accepted on his behalf. Katsushi would have less time off and more grueling hours of training. He wanted a break.

Almost every weekend he would have off, he would spend with his sister, helping her train. After watching him play his first game for Japan’s team, Katsumi begged for weeks for him to teach her his jump serve.

When he finally gave in, it was all she could talk about. She spent hours alone trying to get it right, often it ended up in tears of frustration and FaceTiming her older sibling to get pointers. But when she got it down, she got it down. She became a force to be reckoned with on the court. Her brother's heart swelled with pride seeing his younger sister, but it wasn’t enough.

CURRENT:

Nino knew about Katsumi’s brother, most people had heard about it, but she wasn’t aware of the burden the girl was carrying. She knew that her friend was attempting to cope with the loss, still, and that she had been struggling with her serves. 

Katsumi spun the ball in her hands, she could hear the blood pumping in her ears, she became highly aware of the sweat forming at her hairline. She felt so hot. Her eyes narrowed in on the ball in her hands, vision becoming darker, blurrier, she felt like she was seeing stars.

It felt like she had been standing on the line for hours, but it had only been 30 seconds. She looked at her hands, as they clutched the volleyball, shaking. Her heart began pounding faster in chest, harder. She tried to take deep breaths, which came sharp and shallow.

The ball dropped from her hands, bounces echoing throughout the gym. Tears welled in her eyes as she clutched the front of her shirt. Katsumi rushed into the locker room, chest heaving.

Nino watched her friend break, tossing the volleyball down chasing after her. She burst into the locker room head whipping around trying to find her friend, until her eyes finally landed on her figure. Katsumi was huddled in the corner of the room, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed hysterically. The taller girl rushed to her side crouching in front of her shattered friend.

“Hey Katsu, c’mon take a deep breath,” she said softly, pushing the hair out of her face. Katsumi whimpered in response, trying to listen to her friend but it was too much. She felt the dam break, waves of suppressed emotion came spilling out. All of the thoughts she buried clawed their way to the surface.

“Look at me, and copy what I do, you’re having a panic attack, you need to regulate your breathing, okay?” Katsumi could barely hear Nino’s words over her own heartbeat, but she tried. 

While Nino spoke her through regulating her breathing, someone nudged her shoulder. Akira stood over the pair, holding a towel saturated in cold water. Nino gave her a look of thanks before pressing it into Katsumi’s face and neck. Akira sat on the bench, she wasn’t sure how she could help, but she wanted her friend to know she was there for her.

Katsumi eventually calmed down, pulling Nino into a hug whispering to her friend, “I was so scared, I felt like I was dying…”

Nino’s eyes softened, “What happened Katsu?” she asked.

“My brother… he taught me how to serve. All I can think about when I go to hit a jump serve is his face,” she confessed.

“That’s not him serving, it’s you,” stated Akira. Nino nodded at the setter's words. “She’s right Katsumi, it is you serving, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t with you. He’ll always be with you.”’

Katsumi nodded at her friend’s words, realizing that they were right. Her brother had trained her, but her skills she had honed on her own.

“I’ll let the other girls know we’re ending practice, it’s almost time anyway,” murmured Akira before walking back out into the gym. “We can clean up too, don’t worry about it Katsumi.”

While Akira was looking out for her friend, Katsumi felt like a burden to her team. They could be so much more successful with a better captain, someone who wasn’t broken. Nino picked up on her mood change.

“Don’t think we’re pitying you, because we aren’t,” she began. “You’re my teammate and my captain, but you’re my friend and my sister first. If you need anything, at all, Akira and I will always be there. Now get ready for class.”

“Thank you,” she mumbled before Nino joined the other girls in the gym. 

Katsumi put her head under the faucet letting cold water run over her. She stripped off her exercise clothing, tossing them in her duffel, before changing back into her school uniform. She put her duffel back into her locker, sighing to herself, before lacing up her converse. Looping her arms through her backpack, she re-entered the gym, facing her team. 

“I’m sorry about earlier, I thought I was ready, but I guess I’m not,” she spilled, bowing at the waist to the other girls, staring intently at her scuffed shoes. 

The second years rushed towards their captain, enveloping her in a group hug. Nino and Akira glanced at one another, locking eyes, debating on whether or not the two should join.

Without giving them a chance to decide, Mayoi and May shrieked out their names demanding that they join. The girls all stand together in a group hug, laughing with one another. Katsumi smiled to herself, this truly was her family.

“Okay that’s enough, we have to get to class soon,” instructed Nino. The girls all got dressed before walking out of the gym, Akira locking the door behind them. At the same time the boys were leaving their gym.

“Mayoi don’t fall asleep this time. May, pay attention in class. Takami, you’re a perfect angel and I love you.” stated Katsumi, ruffling the libero’s hair. 

“YOU DON’T LOVE US KATSU-CHAN!!!” shrieked the two feral second years, their loud voices catching the attention of those around them, including the boys team. 

Katsumi’s cheeks turned red at the unwanted attention, she scratched the back of her head, “Nooo it’s not that, ohmygosh, please stop causing a scene. I love you as well,” she promised them.

Oikawa couldn’t hear the raven haired girl reply, but he assumed she was ‘Katsu-chan.’ He smirked at their team, finding them amusing. “Iwa-chan, who’s the girl on their team with the long black hair?” inquired Oikawa.

“I swear Loserkawa, you’re so dense sometimes,” scoffed Iwaizumi. 

“Mean Iwa!” hmpfed Oikawa. “I’ll just find out myself then!”

“Feel free, I’m not aiding you in whatever your dumb mind has come up with.”

Oikawa rolled his eyes at Iwa’s response, thinking back to the ravenette. “I’m going to class, I’ll see you at lunch.”

~um uh fuck idk skip to class i guess~

Katsumi walked to her class, bidding a goodbye to her friends, before taking a seat. Iwa’s eyes glanced up as the girl slid into the seat next to him. “What a coincidence,” Iwaizumi thought to himself.

Iwaizumi watched the girl out of the corner of his eye, she looked exhausted compared to when they had briefly seen each other earlier. The girl folded her hands before resting her chin on them.

Katsumi felt as if she could sleep for weeks straight after what happened. Their teacher walked to the front of the room, beginning instruction. Katsumi couldn’t focus on the words exiting her teacher’s mouth, her thoughts on her brother. She was snapped out of her thoughts by the boy next to her, he was trying to get her attention.

“Sorry what did you say? I wasn’t really paying attention,” she admitted sheepishly.

“No worries, for the history section, she’s assigning a project that we have to work on, we got assigned to each other. I’m Iwaizumi Hajime,” clarified the brunette.

“Oh, okay. Nice to meet you. I’m Hoshikomi Katsumi,” replied Katsumi. “Do you want to exchange information for the project?” she suggested.

“Yeah, that works with me, what’s your schedule like?”

“Uh I have volleyball most mornings and afternoons, we don’t have our practice match schedules yet though,” she rambled.

“That works for me, I can meet up after practice. I have volleyball at the same time,” he added.

She nodded at his response, they decided to meet up at the library after practice the following day to discuss their project.

Iwaizumi watched the girl through the corner of his eye during class, he could see why Oikawa was intrigued. She was undoubtedly beautiful. He noticed that a few people would occasionally send longing gazes in her direction, all of which was ignored by the ravenette. While she was physically present in class, he could tell that she wasn’t mentally there, she hadn’t taken notes during the class and was visibly spacing out often glancing out the window instead of the direction of their teacher. He furrowed his eyebrows at the situation, why did he suddenly care now? Hoshikomi had been in his class throughout the three years, yet this was the first time he had truly noticed her.


	4. First year problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Im currently writing a Bokuaka fic and a shinso x oc fic so UH we be starting too many things LMAO ENJOY

The rest of the school day went by normally. At lunch the girls sat with each other and talked, or screamed for Mayoi and May, about their mornings. Katsumi kept her project to herself for now, not wanting to make a big deal out of her finally socializing with someone outside of her volleyball group. After lunch ended, the group bid their goodbyes, heading back to their respective classes.

The final bell rang, their teacher dismissed the class reminding them of their projects. Katsumi packed all of her stuff back into her bag, Iwaizumi went to walk away, before turning on his heel. 

“Hoshikomi, I’ll see you tomorrow after practice, don’t forget,” he reminded.

“Yep, gotcha,” she assured as the two walked out of their classroom. “See you tomorrow, Iwaizumi.” As she turned to leave her eyes landed on the brunette she saw earlier in the morning, he caught her gaze, holding it before smiling at her. “He’s probably being nice because I’m with his friend,” she thought. She gave him a small smile, that didn’t reach her eyes, before she looked over his shoulder seeing her two friends. 

Akira eyed the girl, seeing her anti-social friend in between the most popular boy and his best friend. “What do you think is going on there?”

Nino shrugged. “Beats me, but honestly, I’m not going to complain. At least she’s talking to people besides us,” she said while chuckling. 

Katsumi approached her friends, pulling the straps of her backpack. Nino glanced back at the two boys, seeing the softer looking one eyeing her friend, she smirked before nudging Akira, making the other girl aware.

“Are you guys ready for practice,” questioned Katsumi.

Nino and Akira diverted their gazes back to the captain in front of them. “Yeah,” they said in unison. 

~skippy do da to da gym~

The girls approached the gym, seeing three new girls looming around the front. The shortest of the three had pink space buns, she was furiously tapping away on her iPhone. The second, an impatient looking pin straight-haired brunette, her arms crossed her chest, foot tapping while checking her phone every 30 seconds. The tallest towered over the other too with unruly dyed blonde hair. 

“She wasn’t lying when she said there was an interesting batch of first years,” sighed Akira, recalling what their coach had told them previously, in regards to the new recruits.

“Hmmm,” mused Katsumi, analyzing the three freshman standing before them. “Pinky seems like she’s really interested in whatever she’s doing on her phone, if we can direct that energy to volleyball I think she’ll be fine. Mini-Illumi looks like she’s extremely serious, we’ll probably have to get her to relax a little, she’s probably as stiff as a board when she plays. Blonde Amazon appears like she has her head in the clouds, literally and figuratively, but she’s tall, tall is good. We need another tall hitter.”

The other two girls gaped at their captain. Akira tried to hold back her laughter at Katsumi’s analysis. “I mean, you’re not wrong.”

“Am I ever?”

“Yes.” Nino deadpanned.

Katsumi was usually spot on when analyzing people when it came to volleyball, outside of it, the girl sucked at picking up cues, it was kind of humorous.

Mayoi and May came zooming around the corner, skidding to a stop seeing the “fresh meat.” Takami who was trying to keep up with them, couldn’t stop fast enough, and ran face-first into Mayoi’s back falling backwards, landing on the ground. 

“Owwieeeee,” Takami whined out, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Mayoi! Don’t just stand in the middle of the walkway, you could’ve hurt poor Takami,” lectured Katsumi. May cackling hysterically at her friend the whole time. 

This caught the attention of the first years, well all save for the pink haired girl, who’s thumbs were still flying on her phone.

“Finally, the team is here,” snapped the brunette. “It said on the flyer that practice is supposed to start at 3 pm, it is,” she paused checking the time on her phone, “3:10.”

The girls stared at her with wide-eyes, before Katsumi spoke up, “Sorry, those flyers aren’t updated. Our practice meets at 3:30 officially now, but we just come as soon as class lets out, but you wouldn’t know that, would you?” she sent a girl a sickly sweet smile. The girl stared at her with a blank expression, obviously not expecting the response. “Now why don’t you three introduce yourselves?”

“I’m Sabakura Misaki, I’m a first year from Chidoriyama, and I’m going to be your starting setter,” announced the straight-haired brunette.

Mayoi smirked at the girl flopping her hand onto Akira’s shoulder. “Aki-chan looks like you have some competitionnnn!~” she sang out. Akira whipped her head in the second year's direction. “There’s no competition, and how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that,” spat Akira.

“Those are some hefty goals Sabakura,” mused Katsumi. “Yeah, well, I bet I’m better than your current setter, and probably even you, combined.” boasted Sabakura, confidently crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Hmm, I’m not so sure about that one. It’s always good to be confident, just stay realistic,” cautioned Katsumi. “Yeah? And who are you?” 

Katsumi’s eyes widened slightly at the girl's bold behavior. “I’m your captain.” May snorted at the look of shock on Sabakura’s face. “Moving on…” Nino said trying to segway the conversation, while gesturing towards the blonde.

“Oh! Hi! I’m Akizawa Yumi, but please just call me Yumi!” the girl emphasized. “I’m so excited to be a part of the team and I can’t wait to become great friends with you all!” Akira got emotional whiplash from the differing personalities.

“What position do you play?” inquired Nino.

“At my middle school, I was the ace my last year, but I prefer being a wing spiker. It’s a little less pressure,” Yumi laughed.

“We need more pressure in the middle, especially spikers, one of our spikers graduated this past year,” explained Katsumi.

“I’ll fill any position you need me to!” exclaimed Yumi, flashing a bright smile. Katsumi nodded at her response, her easy-going personality was a stark contrast to Sabakura’s brash tone. She turned to the smallest girl, “And you are?”

“Huh? Oh, introductions. I’m Kimura Rion, pinch server, defensive player, I mainly do float serves,” stated the pink-haired girl plainly, still tapping away.

“You gonna be able to put that down for practice?” snorted Mayoi at the girl. Kimura looked up at the second year, “Oh yeah, I’m just in a Twitter beef right now with someone. This person came for me after I said that ketchup and mac and cheese isn’t that bad,” she nonchalantly explained, as if this were an everyday occurrence.

“Ewww ketchup on mac and cheese?! That’s sacrilege,” protested May. Kimura shrugged, “Meh, it’s like the same as ketchup and eggs. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever eaten.” Mayoi and May shuddered at the thought. 

Katsumi giggled at their group, before turning to Nino and Akira, “This is definitely going to be an interesting year.” Akira stood dumbfounded, “I truly didn’t think it could get any worse than the psycho second years, but I’ve been proven wrong. Please end my suffering,” she said looking up at Nino. “Sorry Kira, if I have to be put through this you do too, plus, we can’t leave Katsu hanging,” stated Nino apologetically.

Katsumi clapped her hands together, getting the attention of all the girls, “How about we head inside and actually start practicing?”

~dey set up the gym or whateva~

“We don’t have an even amount to play a 5v5, so we can just play a 4v4 and sub someone in,” suggested Katsumi. “I’ll sub out with Tamaki when they're attacking because she’s a libero.” The girls nodded and were divided up. The first team was Akira, Yumi, Mayoi, Tamaki, and Katsumi, the other team was made up of Nino, Sabakura, May, and Kimura. 

Akira, who was usually lax in practice, seemed to have a sense of purpose. She didn’t like the way that Sabakura came into their club and tried to take her spot, and she wasn’t going to be bested by a first year. 

The practice match started with Katsumi in, “It will be interesting to see how the new girls meshed with the other starters,” she thought to herself. Their side had the ball first, with Mayoi serving. It went back and forth for a while, both sides handling their own. Sabakura was a decent setter, but she lacked the ability to flawlessly mesh with her team, Katsumi noted while watching the game. That’s where Akira had her beat, she was both talented and paid enough attention to her partners to be able to toss them the perfect sets, even the first years.

Katsumi’s team took the first match, 25-19, and were on track to take the second one. They were on match point with the other team at 20 points. Nino went to spike it down on their side of the court as Yumi tried to block the other tall girl. Nino slammed the ball into the heel of Yumi’s hand causing it to waterfall down, scoring a point for their team. Kimura’s serve was next, and she was right, her jump floats were hard to receive, but Tamaki received it, hitting the ball to Akira. 

Akira eyed the court in front of her, jumping up like she was going to set it, before hitting a feint on Sabakura. The first year attempted to receive it, before falling, Akira stood over her looking down at the other brunette. “That’s the difference between us.”

After the practice match ended, the team ran some drills before cleaning up the court. “Don’t forget we have morning practice every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday,” reminded Katsumi as she locked the door to the gym. “And we meet everyday after school.”

The first years nodded their heads, before taking off. Mayoi and May walked home with each other. Katsumi made sure that Tamaki got to her older brother before the group of third years walked home. 

“I’m not going to be able to walk home with you guys tomorrow,” informed Katsumi.

“Oh and why’s that?” quirked Nino, raising her eyebrow at her friend.

“I have to go to the library and work on a project, we already got assigned a pretty long project that has to do with history. I got partnered with that dude from the boys team, Iwaizumi,” stated Katsumi. 

Akira nodded at the raven haired girl, “You better not be walking by yourself that late at night Katsu, if you need us to stay we can.”

“No no no, it’s fine, if it’s that dark out I can just have my father’s driver pick me up I guess, if that’ll make you feel better. I don’t want you guys to have to wait up for me,” stated Katsumi.

Nino and Akira agreed with her. The group arrived at Akira’s first, bidding her goodbye, then Nino’s. Katsumi walked the rest of the way home, lost in her thoughts. “This really is going to be an interesting year,” she thought to herself.


	5. Chapter 4: Unexpected study guests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iwa and Katsumi go to the lib and whiny boi tags along... hopefully y'all like dis

The next day occurred the same as the one before it, Katsumi walked to school, met up with her friend Nino, getting lectured about her bad habits, going to practice, and then attending class. Iwaizumi reminded her again of their after school meeting, and she encountered the pretty brown-haired setter while leaving her classroom.

Practice went on without a hitch. The first-years were able to fit-in well enough with the rest of their team, although they definitely needed to bond a team, there was still some tension with Sabakura. 

Oikawa gazed at the girl for the second day in a row, before snapping his head in Iwaizumi’s direction. “Tell me her name.” he demanded.

“What couldn’t find any dirt on her?” scoffed Iwaizumi at his friend, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

“I didn’t ask anyone besides Makki and he wouldn't tell me shit,” he groaned face-palming. “Do you know how embarrassing it would be for the Oikawa Tooru to ask around about someone?”

“You’re so full of yourself,” ridiculed Iwa. “I don’t know how you don’t float away with all that hot air in your head.”

Oikawa grimaced at his friend before sticking his tongue out at him.

“Hoshikomi Katsumi,” stated Iwaizumi, leaving his friend gaping like a fish out of water. Oikawa ran to catch up with him, snapping out of his gaze. “Wait what-?” Iwa glared at his friend in disdain. “That’s her name Loserkawa. You could’ve just looked at the volleyball roster.”

The thought hadn’t even crossed his mind, he was too hyper fixated on one thing to think logically. “Oh. Yeah you’re right…” he trailed off. “I swear I don’t know how you’re in class six sometimes.” Iwa stated, rubbing his temples. 

Oikawa whipped out his phone, opening his socials to search up the girl. “Holy shit…” he mumbled. “Iwa-chan, did you know her family is like super wealthy?” 

“No, I’m not a creep like you,” pointed out Iwaizumi. Oikawa whined at the comment, going back to scroll her feed. “She’s good looking, of course she has a boyfriend,” he thought, seeing a picture of the girl smiling with a black-haired boy in a Japanese volleyball team hoodie. He frowned at the image, before closing out of the app.

~skip to after practice~

Katsumi bid her friends goodbye, before going to stand outside the mens gym, fiddling with her phone. The boys team was still inside practicing and she didn’t want to walk in and cause a scene. She heard the door swing open seeing a group of boys walk out.   
“Can we help you?” asked a boy with swoopy brown hair.

“Uh- no. I’m waiting for someone,” she stammered.

“Oh, Oikawa usually takes awhile after practice, so you might be waiting for a little bit longer,” he joked.

Her eyes widened, “Erm- no- not him, Iwaizumi and I got paired together for our history project,” she clarified. The boy's mouth formed a small “o” shape, his cheeks tinted red at the incorrect assumption. The boy next to him, who resembled a turnip, laughed loudly at the brunette.

“I’m Hoshikomi Katsumi by the way,” introduced the girl. “I’m captain of the girls team.” The fluffy-haired boy's eyes widened again, “I’m Yahaba Shigeru, second year setter.” Turnip-head spoke up next, “Kindaichi Yūtarō, first year middle blocker. That’s Kunimi Akira, first year wing spiker,” he said, sticking his thumb in the direction of a straight-faced boy. Katsumi nodded at the group.

“I’m also a middle blocker,” she explained as Iwa and Oikawa pushed through the gym doors, she turned to face the two third years. “Oh, hey Iwaizumi, are you ready to work on our project?”

“Yeah, sorry for taking so long, princess here takes forever,” he said rolling his eyes and nodding his head in the direction of Oikawa. Katsumi stifled a laugh at the comment as Oikawa grumbled something along the lines of “Mean Iwa-chan.”

Iwaizumi ignored Oikawa’s response, “Are you ready to go to the library?” The girl nodded at him, and the two turned to leave, “It was nice meeting you all,” she said to the three younger boys. Iwa and Katsumi walked in silence to the library, until they felt someone else’s presence behind them. Iwaizumi glanced out of the corner of his eye, seeing the same head of hair that belonged to the idiot that pissed him off everyday.

“Shittykawa, what are you doing?” he deadpanned.

“Well what a coincidence it is that you both are going to the library, and I have homework I can do… in said library,” Oikawa sassed. Iwa looked like his head was going to explode. “You better not be annoying, you twat” he seethed.

~in da lib~

It was a tad awkward in the beginning, Katsumi didn’t know how to act in front of the two boys. Her and Iwaizumi discussed what topics they were interested in covering. 

“I think we should discuss the history of the samurai,” suggested Katsumi. Iwa’s eyes widened at her suggestion, while he didn’t think she was a girly girl, he definitely wasn’t expecting that. 

“I was interested in focusing on Seppuku, so we could narrow in on that aspect with samurai, to include both of our suggestions?” he proposed.

Katsumi instantly tensed up at the mention of seppuku, she couldn’t research that, not now. She knew she was overreacting, it was history, but it brought forth dark thoughts. “Uh- I- I don’t think that’s something I would want to research…” she stammered. She felt her chest tighten, but she didn’t want to cry in front of two strangers. 

“Oh okay no worries we-”

“I can just research the basic information and if you want to include that stuff,” she rushed out, interrupting him, not wanting to let her emotions get in the way of their project. 

Oikawa glanced up at the girl nonchalantly while looking at his textbook, picking up on the fact that the discussion had frazzled her, her posture was stiffer, and her complexion paler. He was intrigued, but he knew it wasn’t his place to ask. It crossed his mind that he never even formally introduced himself to her. 

“Ehem,” he cleared his throat to get their attention. Both of their heads turned to face him, “I realized I never introduced myself and have just been tagging along, I’m the captain and setter, Oikawa Tooru,” he smiled at the girl.

She eyed him skeptically, “Hoshikomi Katsumi, captain and middle blocker.” He became instantly more intrigued finding out she was the captain of the girls team. 

“We’ll have to schedule a practice match boys v girls,” he smirked, right eye dropping into a wink. Katsumi scoffed at him, “Yeah, it would be fun to absolutely crush the boys team,” she shot back. Oikawa’s eyes widened for half a second, not expecting her response, “We’ll see about that one, sweetheart.” She grimaced at the name. He was hot, sure, but he was a flirt, and she didn’t have time for flirts.

“Loserkawa, you said you weren’t going to bother us, shut up,” scolded Iwaizumi. Oikawa put his hands up in front of him in defense, “I was just introducing myself Iwa-chan, jeeeeez.” Iwa rolled his eyes at his eccentric friend, “And antagonizing.” Oikawa pursed his lips, pouting. Katsumi found his reaction cute, but would rather spontaneously combust than voice that she could tell Oikawa was already cocky enough.

The two started researching, Oikawa loudly sighed every once in a while, wanting attention. Which was distracting the raven-haired girl, effectively getting on her nerves. She couldn’t concentrate with him sitting in front of her.

“So, Japan has had samurai up until 1873?” asked Iwaizumi. “I think they have but I wasn’t sure.”

“Uh, let me look that up,” said Katsumi, turning to her book. 

“That’s wrong Iwa-chan~,” sang Oikawa. “Samurai were developed from sons of imperial court families who didn’t inherit headship.”

“Shittykawa I swear to god-”

“No he’s right,” interrupted Katsumi, showing Iwa the passage in her textbook. Oikawa smirked at his spiky-haired friend. “He’s good looking and smart?” thought Katsumi, eyeing the smirking boy.

The pair gathered the majority of the basic information quite easily, Oikawa interrupted a few times, correcting them or whining. Iwa had asked her to help him gather some information on their rituals and other obscure information.

“So, they were trained to commit seppuku if they messed stuff up,” explained Iwaizumi.

“Uh Uh you’re wrong again Iwa-chan,” laughed Oikawa, he knew he was getting on Iwa’s nerves, which was thoroughly amusing to him. “They weren’t trained. It was a very specific ritual, to save face or their family from poverty. It was seen as honorable.”

“How do you know all of this stuff?” Katsumi questioned him. He shrugged, “I like analyzing things.”

After getting interrupted by Oikawa more, Iwa finally snapped, yelling at the boy. Katsumi laughed at their exchange, Oikawa pouted at her reaction, “Hoshi-channnn~!! Iwa-chan is already mean enough to me, I don’t need you to be mean too!” He whined. Her cheeks heated up at his nickname, shaking her head, she stuck her tongue out at him. “Too bad, what was it? Loserkawa?” she mocked giggling. Iwa’s laughter echoed through the library, and the group was asked to leave. “We were gonna leave anyway!”

~~~~~~~~

“Hoshikomi, are you walking home alone?” asked Oikawa as they were getting ready to leave. “Yeah that was the plan,” she responded. Oikawa narrowed his eyes at her, “Nuh Uh, nope, we’re walking you home. Don’t worry I’ll protect you,” he boasted.

“I mean it’s fine, I don’t want to be a bother-”

“Nonsense! It’s already decided. I mean I wouldn’t be a nice guy if I let a pretty girl walk home alone,” he pointed out, not thinking. “Holy shit, I just called her pretty, and she has a boyfriend, I really am a dumbass,” he thought.

“Did he just call me pretty?” she thought with warm cheeks.

The group started walking home, Iwaizumi’s house was the first on their path. “Don’t do anything dumb,” he spoke before walking inside his house.

Oikawa and Katsumi walked in a comfortable silence, until the brunette broke it. “So, if you don’t mind me asking, why did you get so uncomfortable about the research topic?”

Her eyes widened at his question, he was paying that much attention to her? “So you noticed that?”

“I told you, I enjoy analyzing things. You don’t have to say anything if you aren’t comfortable,” he offered.

“Uh- no, it’s fine. I have to talk about it eventually. At the end of the school year last year, my brother, uhm committed suicide,” she spilled. “It was really shocking, and I’m still dealing with it.” She paused realizing what she just said, to someone she barely knew. “I don’t know why I said that, sorry.”

Oikawa glanced at her, reading her face. “Don’t be sorry, life doesn’t prepare you for those things.”

She nodded at his response, he was surprisingly genuine, she did however think he was still a fuckboy, a fuckboy with a heart. “Do you want to see a picture?”

“Sure, if you’re comfortable.”

She pulled out her phone, before scrolling through her pictures, picking one from when she visited him while he played for the Japanese Men’s team. She showed Oikawa the picture, “He played for the Japanese Volleyball team,” she explained. “He taught me almost everything I know.”

Holy shit, Oikawa felt like such an asshole. The boy he thought was her boyfriend, was her dead brother. “He must have been really good,” he mused.

“Yeah, he was,” she recalled.

Oikawa averted the conversation to something lighter, which she was grateful for. They made small talk on the way to her house. 

“This is my house,” she stated. Oikawa looked at the large house. “Holy shit,” mumbled. 

Oikawa turned back to the girl, “Well I’ll see you later,” he started, going to walk away, before abruptly turning back, “Can I have your number?” Her eyes widened at his request. “For practice match purposes,” he finished.

“Oh, sure,” she said meekly, giving him her cell phone number, before saying goodbye. As she got inside her house her phone vibrated.

UNKNOWN:  
It’s Oikawa Tooru  
Sorry again, if you were uncomfortable  
by Iwa-chan’s topic, I’ll tell him to shut up.

She felt her chest tighten while reading his texts, and her cheeks warm up. Why was he being so nice?


End file.
